Gordon Bethune, chairman and chief executive officer of Continental Airlines In 1994, when Gordon Bethune took the reins at Continental Airlines in Houston, he found a dysfunctional company. The airline had endured two visits to the bankruptcy court in 11 years, and the scars from those ordeals showed. Shoddy aircraft in four different paint schemes, all peeling, symbolized the level to which the airline had fallen.
FOUR OFFICIALS OF Basler Turbo Conversions died Mar. 16 when a modified DC-3 and a Beechcraft Bonanza collided near Manitowoc, Wis., during a routine flight to photograph the turboprop-powered transport. Killed were Warren L. Basler, president and chief executive officer of the Oshkosh, Wis.-based company; Stephen W. Yantz; David L. Schacheri, and Neil C. Hyerstay. Basler President Tom Weigt said Yantz was flying the DC-3 and Basler the Bonanza. Neither pilot had reported problems with their aircraft. The NTSB is investigating.
ARMY THAAD OFFICIALS VISITED Hughes Missile Systems Co. in Tucson, Ariz., last week to see if the company can assist with the ballistic missile defense program, which has missed targets four times in a row due to various technical problems (AW&ST Mar. 24, p. 33). Hughes invited the officials, and managers from Thaad contractor Lockheed Martin were present. ``Hughes has some components that might be interesting,'' an Army official said, but the Army has no plans to second-source the interceptor.
BRITISH AEROSPACE HAS SELECTED TELEPHONICS communications systems for the U.K. MOD's replacement maritime aircraft program. Under the Royal Air Force's Nimrod 2000 Maritime Patrol Aircraft program, wings, engines and avionics for 21 aircraft are slated for replacement. Telephonics task is to integrate communication systems from a number of as yet undesignated suppliers, using a fiber-optic-based communication management system that must also interface with a Boeing-provided mission computer.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. has come down hard on the City of Los Angeles, by withholding $130 million of federal money in response to the city's allegedly illegal transfer of money from its airports to its general fund. The city has already partly backed off by agreeing last week to return $2.3 million to the airports that is connected to $70 million of the withheld funds. A $31 million transfer is still in dispute.
The Tempo direct broadcast satellite made history Mar. 8 when it became the first commercial spacecraft in orbit to offer more than 10 kw. of power. But it won't be alone for long.
LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY will need one million times the computing power available today. The U.S. computer industry, challenged by the Energy Dept. Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative, could produce those gains within eight years, according to Bruce Tarter, director of the lab. Along with hardware advances, massively parallel processors have become much easier to program, and therefore more accessible. A 512-node IBM SP2 system, recently received, was running the laboratory's most complex simulations two weeks after delivery, he said.
A new generation of sophisticated spacecraft technologies are under development, driven by a worldwide telecommunications revolution with seemingly limitless demand. Just a decade ago, it appeared satellites would be limited to a small share of the communications industry, unable to compete with the wonders of terrestrial fiber optics.
Francois Gayet has been appointed vice president-strategy and business develop ment of Thomson-CSF. He was chief executive officer of Thomson-CSF Airsys.
European airlines increasingly are recruiting Americans for top spots. The latest is Jeffrey G. Katz, a 17-year American Airlines veteran, who becomes chief operating officer of Swissair on Apr.
The first Block 50 F-16C fighter for Greece is scheduled to begin a series of flight evaluations at Edwards AFB, Calif., in January, following anechoic chamber testing at Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems (LMTAS) in Fort Worth. Tests will focus on operation of the aircraft's Litton-built Airborne Self-Protection Integrated System (ASPIS), a new internal jammer and electronic warfare unit purchased by the Greek government. The F-16C and a two-seat F-16D recently rolled out of LMTAS' factory on the same day, well ahead of schedule.
Michael J. Mancuso has become senior vice president/chief financial officer, Michael Wynne senior vice president-international planning and development and Raymond E. Kozen vice president-planning and analysis, all of General Dynamics, Falls Church, Va. Mancuso was vice president/CFO. Wynne was corporate vice president/general manager of General Dynamics Space Systems, and Kozen was staff vice president-special projects. Wynne will succeed Henry J. Sechler, who will be retiring.
George Dawson and Geoff Crowhurst (see photos) have been appointed managing director and deputy managing director, respectively, of the Industrial Acoustics Co. Ltd., Winchester, England. Dawson succeeds George Sotos, who has retired.
U.S. cooperation with Russia on the international space station and Mir will reach a critical juncture this week. Russia is preparing for the launch of a vital resupply mission to bolster oxygen and communication systems on the aging Mir orbital base, while other actions in Moscow and Washington are likely to result in delay and modification of the new $27-billion international station.
India's financially strapped state-owned domestic airline, Indian Airlines, is seeking a cash infusion of $57 million that is in line with a blue-ribbon panel's determination that government policy, not mismanagement, is the reason for its troubles, according to industry officials.
Look for increased use of welding to replace heavier rivet fasteners in commercial airframes. Wichita, Kan.-based PAC*MIG Inc.is in talks with several potential users of its new pressurized air-cooled, metal inert gas (PACMIG) welding gun technology. In preliminary, third-party coupon fatigue tests, butt joint welds using the MIG technique and then shot-peened showed twice the fatigue life of comparable three-row, flush-riveted lap joints representing those used by the latest Boeing transports, according to PAC*MIG President Joseph Cusick.
Company-funded research and development at Hughes Space and Communications has increased by about 50% since the early 1990s as the company sets its sights on telecommunications segments it believes are key to market success in the future. On-board digital processors and very large antenna systems capable of communicating directly with hand-held telephones have been major research efforts the company has been quietly working on as it prepares to compete for new markets.
Walter M. Slazyk has become senior manager for technical operations and Sonya Larrea-Nieboer regional sales manager of the Hercules Flight Training Center in Marietta, Ga. of SimuFlite Training International. Slazyk was manager of the Hercules center, and Larrea-Nieboer was an account representative.
Europe's civil space agencies are teaming up with private industry on a set of ambitious experiments aimed at validating new telecommunications technologies in orbit. The projects, which are slated to be orbited between 1998 and 2000, are designed with one primary goal in mind: to help Europe's space telecom companies stay competitive, primarily with their U.S. counterparts.
Radar research at the Army Research Lab is working toward airborne systems that may be able to precisely map mine fields and automatically identify vehicles hidden under foliage. Scientists have located mines with 15-cm. (6-in.) accuracy, using a unique ultra-wideband (UWB) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on a 150-ft.-tall boom, mounted on a slow-moving, self-propelled vehicle. They are presently gathering the kind of methodical data that will be useful for the design of future ground and foliage penetration radars.
THE FIRST BELL BOEING V-22 tiltrotor test aircraft built to production standards arrived at the Patuxent River (Md.) Naval Air Warfare Test Center recently from Fort Worth. This is the first of four aircraft in the engineering and manufacturing development program that will be used to conduct flight tests at Patuxent River. The aircraft has new avionics and uprated Allison T406-AD-400 engines with 6,150 shp. each. Operational evaluation by U.S. Marine Corps Helicopter Sqdn. 1 will begin in 1999, followed by initial operational capability for the Marines in 2000.
China Southern Airline Group is challenging Air China's position as the dominant airline in China as it expands international routes and adds a fifth Boeing 777 to its fleet. Bolstered by the strong economics and pro-business attitude of its southern China base and neighboring Hong Kong, the carrier, formerly one of seven small Chinese regionals, has grown to a fleet of 63 Western-built jets. Eight of these are wide-body transports along with 35 Boeing 737s and 20 757s.
U.S. policy makers soon will begin looking seriously at alternative strategic war plans that do not involve nuclear weapons, according to Paul Robinson, director of Sandia National Laboratories, who was in Washington last week.
Airbus Industrie within the next few weeks is planning to select an engine type for the proposed A340-600 high-capacity transport, in preparation for the program's launch now tentatively scheduled for June. The proposed A340-600 is expected to play a critical role in the European consortium's strategic plan. The 382-seat aircraft, a stretched-fuselage A340-300 derivative, demonstrates the strong determination of Europeans to enter the Boeing 747-400 market and complement the envisioned 555-seat A3XX.
